Amex Puts Credit Card Churners on Notice with More Bonus Restrictions

Earning a big welcome offer on an Amex cards used to be pretty straightforward: You were eligible to earn a big bonus on every Amex card exactly once. But American Express keeps adding different rules and restrictions designed to clamp down on travelers hopping from one big bonus to the next … including a brand-new warning on its suite of Delta SkyMiles Cards.
Overnight, American Express added cautionary language to the terms and conditions for all the personal Delta SkyMiles cards – from the no-annual-fee *delta blue*  up to the *delta reserve card* – that explicitly spell out when they might revoke a big welcome bonus. Namely, cardholders with a history of canceling (or downgrading) Amex cards within a year of opening them are being targeted to have their bonuses withheld … or clawed back.
 

 
Canceling or downgrading a card after earning a bonus is a go-to move among travelers focused on earning points and miles – a way to keep that bonus without paying another year's annual fee. But as banks like Amex try to crack down on consumers cycling through credit cards just to earn bonuses, Amex is now specifically calling that out.
This isn't a massive change in direction on Amex's part, to be clear. Many banks have long frowned upon canceling cards within the first year and occasionally revoked a big bonus. And for years, Amex has included fairly vague language that they may claw back bonus points “determine that you have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with this offer in any way or that you intend to do so” – and specifically called out canceling or downgrading a card within the first year.
But with this addition to Delta cards, it's clear that they're ratcheting up attention on consumers repeatedly opening and dumping cards.
We haven't yet seen similar language spread to other American Express cards like the bank's own cards like the *amex platinum* , other co-branded cards with Hilton and Marriott, or even small business Delta credit cards. But it's likely only a matter of time before these new cautionary terms spread to all of them.
 
 
That's what happened last year, when Amex began rolling out new restrictions that limit how cardholders can earn additional welcome bonuses within the same “family” of Amex cards. Those new terms first popped up on the suite of Delta SkyMiles cards before quickly spreading to Membership Rewards earning cards and other co-branded lineups. Now, with practically any Amex card, you have to start at the bottom and work your way up to earn multiple bonuses.
As Americans have piled up record numbers of points and miles coming out of the pandemic, American Express has been rolling out more and more new restrictions and language to stop travelers from racking up bonus after bonus.
One thing I've long appreciated about Amex is its “ Apply With Confidence” feature, which lets you know whether you can earn a bonus before submitting your application. But as the bank began to crack down, more and more applicants who otherwise should be eligible to earn that bonus are now getting a pop-up saying “no bonus for you.”
 
 
Now, Amex may not only turn travelers down for a bonus on a new card application based on their history with the bank. With these new terms spelled out, Amex has more avenues to deny or claw back points – even if you get past the dreaded pop-up .
On one hand, I get it. Amex is trying to weed out customers that simply sign up for a new card to earn a big welcome bonus and then cancel soon after . But on the other hand, there are people out there that do sign up for cards with good intentions – yes, partially influenced by a big bonus – whose circumstances change.
Whether they're laid off from a job, a family member gets sick, or they move to a different area, there are lots of legitimate reasons why a Delta SkyMiles credit card might not make sense a year down the road. Amex has made it very clear that they can change card benefits and raise annual fees on a whim. Shouldn't cardmembers have the same right to decide they want to make a change?
 
Bottom Line
Amex recently added more new language to the terms and conditions of the personal Delta SkyMiles credit cards, making it clear they're targeting consumers who repeatedly open a card, earn a bonus, then cancel or downgrade before paying the annual fee again.
Run afoul of Amex? Your welcome bonus could get clawed back. That's not entirely new, but Amex is certainly ramping up its attention.
While these new terms are only showing on Delta SkyMiles cards, I'd wager it's only a matter of time before we see it spread to other Amex cards as well.